Combined kneeling bench and pew



Dec. 27, 1955 J, M. POWERS 2,728,380

COMBINED KNEELING BENCH AND FEW Filed Sept. 11, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

Dec. 27, 1955 J. M. POWERS COMBINED KNEELING BENCH AND PEW Filed Sept. 11, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. By JOHN AI. PflWfAS ma; f

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.nwf vl hnbn iil r k We! ATTORA/f/S v United States Patent 2,728,380 COMBINED KNEELING BENCH AND PEW John M. Powers, Cleveland Heights, Ohio Application September 11, 1952, Serial No. 308,989 4 Claims. (Cl. 155166) This invention relates to church pews, and particularly to those which have a kneeling rail pivotally mounted to the end panels at the lower rearward portion thereof.

The pivotal mounting of the kneeling rails has been helpful in that the rails could be elevated for enabling the floor to be readily cleaned, but except for the time required for cleaning, the rails are usually kept in horizontal position. In such position, they restrict the leg room for those who happen to be sitting, and, in addition, they make it diificult for one person to pass in front of an other upon entering or leaving the pew.

An object of the present invention is to provide a combined pew and kneeling rail, which is so constructed that a portion of the back rest of the seat is pivotally connected to the end panels and is so interconnected to the kneeling rail that a slight tilting movement of the movable portion of the back rest will swing the kneeling rail upwardly where it will not interfere either with the comfort of those who are sitting, or with the convenience of those who WlSh to enter or leave a pew. Additionally, an object of this invention is to so interconnect the movable portion of the back rest to the kneeling rail that the rail may be quickly swung from one position to anomer merely by swinging the movable portion of the back rest about its pivot, whereby the problem of raising the rails for cleaning the church floor is greatly expedited.

Briefly, in the present invention the back rest of the seat has an upper portion which is pivotally connected to the end panels of the pew, and has a system of links interconnecting such movable portion to the kneeling rail, in such manner that the position of the rail can be controlled merely by swinging the movable portion of the back rest about its pivot. In addition, the system of links is positioned within hollow end panels whereby they are concealed from view.

Referring now to the drawings, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a church pew having a back rest and kneeling rail embodying the present invention, and showing the kneeling rail in horizontal position; Fig. 2 is a perspective view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the kneeling rail in elevated position; Fig. 3 is an end view of the pew with the panel cover removed to show the linkage assembly; and the position thereof when the kneeling rail is elevated; Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing the linkage moved to a position wherein the kneeling rail is in horizontal position; Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical section taken through the upper portion of the pew; and Figs. 6 and 7 are sections taken on planes indicated by the line 66 and 7-7 in Fig. 3.

The pew with which the present invention is illustrated, has end members 10 and 11 which support a seat 15. Each end member preferably has an inner wall 12 and an outer wall 13, the latter of which is spaced from the inner wall by marginal spacing strips 14 which cooperate with the inner and outer walls to provide a chamber for receiving a system of links which will hereinafter be set forth in detail. The outer wall constitutes a closure plate for the end member whereby the end of the pew presents a smooth uninterrupted surface.

The back rest of the seat, preferably has a relatively stationary lower portion 16, and a relatively tiltable upper portion 17, the former of which is fixed to the pew ends, and the latter of which is pivotally supported, as by a pin 18, upon the inner wall 12 at each end of the pew. A kneeling rail 30 is also pivotally supported upon the inner wall 12 of the respective pew ends, the pivot pin being indicated at 31, and the rail is interconnected to the movable part of the back rest by a system of links which is housed within the hollow portion of each end member.

The interconnection between the movable part of the back rest and the kneeling rail preferably includes an arm 25 which may be provided with apertures for receiving one of the pivot pins 18 and a second pin 19, which is fastened to the upper portion of the part 17, and which extends through an arcuate slot 20 in the adjacent inner wall 12. As shown in Fig. 7, the bar 25 is disposed within the hollow portion between the plates 12 and 13 and is, by virtue of the connection to the pin 18, pivotally mounted upon the inner wall 12, and at the same time is rigidly connected to the movable back rest 17. Thus, whenever the back rest is swung about its pivot, the bar 25 is likewise swung about the pivot 18.

The kneeling rail pivot pin 31 has an arm 32 rigidly attached thereto and disposed within the pew end intermediate the panels 12 and 13. The arm 32 is connected to the lower end of the bar 25 preferably by a pin and slot connection indicated in general at 35. The relationship between the length of the arms 25 and 32 is such that whenever the arms are in the position shown in Fig. 3 the movable back rest is in the position shown in 17A of Fig. 5, while the kneeling rail is in the elevated position shown in Fig. 2. At such time the pin 19 is disposed in the rearward end of the arcuate slot 20.

On the other hand, whenever the bars 25 and 32 are in a position shown in Fig. 4, then the kneeling rail is in horizontal position, as illustrated in Fig. 1, while the movable backrest 17 is in the full line position of Fig. 5. In either position of the movable portion of the backrest, persons occupying the seat portion of a pew can be seated comfortably, whereas on occasions when all members of the congregation are seated, a light backward pressure against the movable backrest 17 causes the kneeling rail to be elevated, whereby the increased leg room enhancer the convenience of those in the adjacent pew.

To facilitate the retention of the kneeling rail in elevated position, I have shown a spring 40 one end of which is anchored, at 41, to an inner wall 12 and the other end of which is attached at 42 to the bar 25, and the spring is so loaded that the rail is readily held in elevated position, but the loading is sufiiciently light that whenever the kneeling rail is moved to the horizontal position, its weight will act to retain it in that position. observed in elevated position, passing through the axes of the pins 18 and 31. On the other hand, whenever the kneeling rail is in horizontal position, the pin 35 is on the opposite side of the line passing through the axes of the pins 18 and 31.

To efiect silent operation of the kneeling rails, I have shown bulfer blocks 50 and 51, which are provided with resilient buflfer elements such as springs 52 and 53 respectively. The blocks are attached to the inner wall 12, whereas the springs are attached to the respective blocks and are adapted to be engaged by the edge of the bar 25 whenever it swings to the extremity of either position.

The relationship of the pivotal connections and the relationship between the parts forming the inter-connecting linkage between the movable backrest and the kneeling rail is such that the rail may be readily moved from one position to another, merely by swinging the movable portion of the backrest about its pivotal connection to the ends of the pew. This enables a custodian to pass quickly down an aisle, and-to elevate the kneeling rails thereby greatly facilitating the work incident to the cleaning of the church floor. A further advantage of the present invention is the fact that the facilities for elevating the kneeling rails enables the spacing between the pews to be diminished over standard practice, as a result of which a greater number of pews can be satisfactorily accommodated within a predetermined floor area.

I claim:

1. A church pew having a pair of end members with a seat carried thereby and extending therebetween, said seat including a back rest having at least a portion thereof relatively stationary, and another portion thereof relatively movable, said pew also having'a kneeling rail extending between the end members and. mounted thereon at the back of the pew for movement with respect thereto, a pair of bars interconnecting the relatively movable portion of the back rest and the kneeling rail, and yieldable means acting on one of said bars to assist in holding the rail in elevated inoperative position.

2. A church pew having a pair of end members and a seat extending therebetween and carried thereby, at least one of the end members having a hollow interior portion, said seat having a back-rest portion, pivots mounted on the respective end members for supporting the back-rest portion for swinging movement with respect to the end members, and said pewhaving a kneeling rail at the back thereof, pivots mounted on the end members for supporting the rail, two arms disposed within said hollow portion and respectively affixed to the back rest and kneeling rail pivot, means interconnecting said arms for elfecting a swinging movement of the rail whenever the back-rest portion is swung with reference to the end members, and yieldable means acting on one of the arms to assist in holding the rail in elevated inoperative position.

3. A church pew having a pair of end members and a seat extending therebetween and carried thereby, said seat having a back rest, pivots mounted on the respective end members for supporting the back-rest for swinging movement with respect to the end members, a pin and slot 7 connection between the back-rest and one of the end members for limiting the extent of said swinging movement, said pew having a kneeling rail at the back thereof, pivots mounted on the end members for supporting the rail, interconnected arms aflixed to said respective supporting pivots for imparting a swinging movement to the rail whenever the back-rest is swung with reference to the end members, and yieldable means acting on one of the arms to assist in holding the rail in elevated inoperative position.

4. A church pew having a pair of end members, a seat extending therebetween and supported thereby, the seat having a back-rest movable with respect thereto, a pin extending from each end of the back-rest, each pin being supported in one of said end members whereby the backrest is pivotally supported upon said end members, a bar rigidly connected to one of said pins and extending downwardly adjacent one of the end members, said pew having a kneeling rail extending between the end members and at the back thereof, pins carried by the rail and mounted for pivotal movement within the respective end members, a bar rigidly connected to one of the rail pins, means interconnecting said bars whereby the rail is swung upwardly whenever the back rest is swung rearwardly with respect to the end members, and yieldable means acting on one of the arms to assist in holding the rail in elevated inoperative position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 152,169 Richardson June 16, 1874 831,777 Dryer Sept. 25, 1906 902,130 Aumann Oct. 27, 1908 988,600 Simpson Apr. 4, 1911 1,846,392 Hambrook Feb. 23, 1932 1,890,815 Kazowski Dec. 13, 1932 1,951,793 Herman Mar. 20, 1934 2,460,791 Bernhard Feb. 1, 1949 2,536,449 Landau Jan. 2, 1951 2,608,242 Owler Aug. 26, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS r 17,142 Great Britain 1898 

